According to an NPR report, MXI has been accepting truckloads of Four Loko because wholesalers are trying to dump the drink that has been banned in several states. Brian Potter, MXI vice president of operations, said in an Associated Press report, “that about a couple of hundred truckloads of the drinks would be coming to the plant. Each truck holds 2,000 cases of the 23.5-ounce cans.”

At the MXI plant in Virginia, those 23.5-ounce cans are blended with other ingredients and converted into ethanol that can be used to fuel cars. (In a somewhat related note, a few friends and I figured out how to fuel ourselves for days on nothing but 40-ounce bottles of Coqui 900 malt liquor. That situation was slightly different however, as we converted those drinks into classiness, while the folks at MXI are converting their drinks to an alternative energy source. But why split hairs?)

As for the political implications of the Four Loko conversion, it's hard to tell. Subsidies for corn-based ethanol have come under fire in recent years because critics say the practice has incentivized the over-production of corn and has driven down corn prices. The corn-growers lobby has contested these arguments.

Judging by my latest search of the Congressional lobbyist database, there is no organization that specifically represents the interests of Four Loko. But that could change at any time. After all, who would have thought we would be using the stuff to fuel our cars?

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